‘It’s a Wonderful Life” is the theme of this year’s Festival of Trees, a fundraiser for Providence Children’s Services. And two couples being honored at the festival have been wonderfully generous with their lives.
Harv Jubie and his wife, Jan, and Larry Jubie and his wife, Linda, will receive the Spirit of Festival Award during the four-day event that starts Tuesday with an opening-night dinner. All festival events, which include a free community open house Wednesday, will be in the Orca Ballroom at Tulalip Resort Casino.
With their wives, volunteer tree designers for years, brothers Harv and Larry Jubie are instrumental in making the Festival of Trees a success. For nearly two decades they have sponsored a gala raffle at the event.
Leading up to the festival, where glittering Christmas trees and wreaths are sold to the highest bidders, the Jubie brothers help with setting up, driving trucks full of supplies and pitching in to transform the ballroom into a holiday wonderland.
Longtime Marysville residents, the couples now live near each other in north Everett.
“Christmas is Festival of Trees,” said Larry Jubie, 70, a retired banker. “It’s always very gratifying. We really enjoy it.”
Harv Jubie, 75, has operated a Marysville-based construction business.
Along with their work with the Providence General Foundation, which puts on the annual Festival of Trees, the brothers are active with the Marysville Rotary Club and the Marysville Community Food Bank. With Rotary, they have made annual trips to Guatemala, where for nearly 20 years they have helped build village schools and water-supply systems.
“We couldn’t do this without them for sure,” said Lori Kloes, chief development officer of the Providence General Foundation.
The Spirit of Festival Award was given for the first time last year to Jay and Terry Ackley, of Everett-based K&H Integrated Print Solutions, who helped last year with a challenge to others to contribute to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Providence Regional Medical Center Everett.
Kloes said the Spirit of Festival Award was conceived after the event’s 30th anniversary to recognize “what it took to start Festival of Trees.” This will be the festival’s 32nd year. “The award highlights folks who were instrumental in helping the event be successful,” Kloes said. “It’s a small way of thanking some of those key leaders.”
It was the mid-1980s when the Festival of Trees was started by what was then the Providence Hospital Foundation. That first event, in Floral Hall at Everett’s Forest Park, was before the 1994 merger of Everett’s General Hospital Medical Center and Providence Hospital.
From those beginnings grew a four-day event. Tickets are available for Tuesday’s opening night buffet dinner, with a silent auction and live music by the Dusty 45s. The free community open house, 1-6 p.m. Wednesday, will feature local choirs, cookies and other refreshments, crafts for kids and visits with Santa. Friday’s gala dinner is sold out. On Saturday, the Providence General Children’s Association will present the annual Teddy Bear Breakfast.
Contributions made during a special fund-a-need portion of this year’s gala will benefit the Providence Children’s Center, which provides services and therapies for children with special needs.
The Jubies’ ties to Providence go far beyond the festival. Larry Jubie is chairman of the Providence General Foundation board of directors. And Harv, a current member of the board, is a former chairman.
Before the Cymbaluk Medical Tower opened in 2011 on the hospital’s Colby campus, Harv and Jan Jubie headed the capital campaign to build the facility. Larry and Linda Jubie were on the executive committee of that Campaign for Providence.
Along with creating Christmas trees, Jan and Linda Jubie are active in the Providence General Children’s Association and have volunteered many hours in the hospital gift shops.
Raised with 10 other siblings in east Everett, Harv and Larry Jubie graduated from Lake Stevens High School. Both are part of the school’s Purple and Gold Club Hall of Fame.
Last week, they helped put together Thanksgiving food supplies at the Marysville Community Food Bank. They’ll be back serving that need for several days before Christmas.
“They are so selfless,” Kloes said. “They bring this sort of light with them wherever they go.”
Julie Muhlstein: 425-339-3460; jmuhlstein@heraldnet.com.
Festival of Trees
The Festival of Trees, a Providence General Foundation fund-raiser, supports Providence Children’s Services. All events are in the Tulalip Resort Casino’s Orca Ballroom, 10200 Quil Ceda Blvd., Tulalip. They include:
Tuesday: Opening night, 6-9 p.m. Silent auction, buffet dinner, no-host bar, live music from the Dusty 45s. $65 per person. Tickets at the door or online.
Wednesday: Community Open House, 1-6 p.m. Free to the public. Performances by local choirs, free beverages and cookies, visits with Santa, crafts for children. 3-6 p.m.
Friday: Gala dnner and live auction (sold out, 6-10 p.m. Cocktail reception and hosted bar, silent wine auction, three-course dinner, live auction. (Black tie optional).
Saturday: Teddy Bear Breakfast, 8:30-10:30 a.m. Breakfast, entertainment by Tim Noah, visit with Santa, teddy bear store. $30 per person. Reservations needed.
Tickets or information: 425-258-7999 or www.providencegeneralfoundation.org
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